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Toronto Region Areas of Expertise/Assets and Track Record of World Firsts

The Toronto region’s Human Health and Sciences cluster offers specialized scientific infrastructure and globally recognized expertise, and is known for conducting pioneering research in the following areas:

A History of Innovation in Toronto at University Health Network

Life-changing scientific breakthroughs made here include:

•The first clinical use of heparin

• North America’s first artificial kidney designed and used clinically

•First use of radiation therapy to cure Hodgkin’s disease

•Development of lumpectomy for breast cancer

•First use of total body cooling as a method for making heart surgery safer

•First external heart pacemaker used in an open-heart resuscitation

•Identification of blood-forming stem cells—a discovery that gave birth to the field of stem cell science